This morning was uncharacteristically rough. The train ride itself was uneventful, but once on the platform and into the maw of Grand Central Terminal, large (REALLY large) crowds of people were swarming around. Hundreds and hundreds of people in a sea of green attire, shiny beads, and oversized leprechaun hats taking over the main hall like a silly and ridiculous version of Tahirir Square. Most of the revelers seemed to be good natured and not yet too inebriated, but some were clearly intent on wrongdoing in spite of the clumps of dressed-up police officers and firefighters heading for the parade. It was very loud and very tense, and the pit of my stomach tightened up to prepare for my fight-or-flight response. Between the train platform and the subway entrance, I witnessed 3 assaults and 2 pickpocketing attempts and several instances of menacing and destructive behavior. I was never so happy just to make it to the subway.
Throughout the day I found myself wondering how bad the ride home might be. Surely if the morning was bad, the evening would be worse, and as I left the subway and headed into the terminal my heart began to race. As I turned the corner into the main hall beyond the secret Oyster Bar entrance, I assumed I would encounter something close to a riot. Instead it was nothing. Nothing. Mostly tired commuters going about their business with small groups of exhausted revelers trying to find their trains. I made my way to my train, with only 3 minutes to spare, and I figured it would be jam-packed with stinking drunk hooligans ready to slug me in the jaw and puke on my shoes. Instead it was nothing. Just many people dressed in green, a few obviously tipsy, and the usual asshole trying to beat the conductor out of the peak ticket upgrade. But that was it....
So the worst commuting day of the year was by far NOT the worst commuting day of the year. I will reserve that honor for the month of January when every day after the first big snowstorm was the worst commuting day of the year. I cannot really understand or explain this morning. A work colleague from New Jersey told me it was exactly the same at Penn Station. Perhaps it was a combination of a really beautiful day in NYC which drew so many people combined with our collective anxiety about the horrors in Japan, Libya, Egypt and Bahrain. I don't know. Tonight I am just a simple commuter who is happy to have dodged a bullet on the worst commuting day of the year.
